Investigations often lead to more arrests, more issues

Sunday

Aug 16, 2009 at 12:01 AM

By Lisa RogersTimes Staff Writer

It all started when a Gadsden police officer on patrol made a routine traffic stop and found a small amount of marijuana in a car. What began as a routine drug arrest has led to several distribution arrests, said Rob Savage, commander of the Etowah County Drug Enforcement Unit.The person who had the marijuana cooperated with drug agents and made several undercover drug buys over the next several weeks from several different people.One of those undercover buys was at a home last week on Kyle Avenue, Savage said."This is a good example of patrol officers working with narcotics officers that leads to four or five different people being arrested on distribution charges," Savage said.He said some of the other investigations related to that initial marijuana possession arrest are still ongoing and have led to trafficking arrests — determined by the amount of drugs someone has with them."Our emphasis has always been on those who distribute," Savage said. "It might affect 10 to 20 abusers and obviously that is a good thing."Trafficking and distribution of drugs are considered two of the most serious drug crimes, he said.The arrest of 20-year-old Felisha Cusik in the Kyle Avenue raid came after an investigation that took several weeks, Savage said. Officers have evidence that crack was being sold from inside the house."Raids such as these are done after much planning and preparation," Savage said. "The operations are the result of many days, sometimes weeks, of planning."Once an investigation begins, it might take a lengthy period before agents can gather enough evidence to ensure a conviction.District Attorney Jimmie Harp said it's important to build a case that makes the biggest impact on the community.Harp said sometimes people will make a call to the tipline and not see any action within a week, and assume that agents are not investigating."Agents are required to check out every tip. Sometimes those tips lead to cases that break up a major drug distribution ring or it might turn out to be nothing," Harp said. "Wherever those tips take us, we want to make sure we have the evidence, whether it be surveillance, marked buy money or whatever we need, (that) brings down as many suppliers as we can. The only way to make a dent in the drug problem is to cut it off at its source." Harp said even though a lot of arrests are made for possession of drugs, that is not the major goal of the drug unit."It doesn't do any good to take the grunts off the street if the supplier can just replace them in a matter of hours," Harp said.Savage said agents use surveillance and reconnaissance during the investigation to help eliminate as much risk as possible when an arrest is made."This is not only for our agents' safety, but for the suspects and the people associated with those suspects," Savage said.An investigation can begin with a routine drug arrest or information received from people in the community.On the same day the Kyle Avenue house was raided, a DeKalb County man was arrested in a parking lot of a local business for trafficking in methamphetamine.Herminio Pasqual, 20, Crossville, also was charged with possession and distribution of meth, Savage said. The investigation first began weeks ago after someone called the narcotics tip line. As the investigation progressed, a confidential source was recruited to assist. Throughout the investigation, a significant amount of meth in its purest form — ice — was purchased in undercover buys.Pasqual lives in another county and had come to Etowah County to sell meth. He had driven a different vehicle to make each of those buys, making it more difficult to track what he would be driving.Agents had information that he would be coming to Etowah County on Tuesday and made plans to make the arrest that day. When someone is selling drugs in a public place, it almost always is necessary that an arrest is made in a similar location."Often times, we cannot dictate the location," Savage said.Agents must evaluate each planned arrest differently, but arrests at homes typically are different than those in public places.Regardless of the situation, Harp said agents with the Etowah County DEU are some of the best trained and best equipped. "They all work well together and their focus is to bring down the bad guy. They are unusually coordinated and are so professional."The agents met at their office for a briefing to decide the best approach for the arrest. Agents decided who would be parked at surrounding locations to make as quick of an approach as possible. Agents expected the man to meet someone at a business and had to decide the best plan to keep others as safe as possible."We have to take into consideration how many people are going to be in that parking lot and how many are going to be in that business," Savage told the agents.Agents also plan where to position their vehicles to make it as safe as possible for themselves and for others. "We have to make sure we're not creating a traffic risk," he said.Agents pull their vehicles in to block the suspect, while at the same time making sure no innocent bystanders or agents are injured.As agents were driving to the originally expected location, the location changed. Agents quickly headed to the new location to scout. "We're looking at the neighborhood, the number of cars in the parking lot," Savage said.Two agents were inside the business and other agents were nearby. When the man got to the parking lot, he and the person he was meeting were quickly surrounded and arrested. "When we arrest someone of this magnitude, it impacts a large number of people," Savage said. "He was selling a large quantity of meth which put a significant amount of dope on the streets. These are the type cases that make an impact on the community."These cases culminated with the arrests, he said."When we exhaust all investigatory leads, that is typically when we release information," Savage said.

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